


A Small Error in Translation

by Dira Sudis (dsudis)



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-06
Updated: 2009-12-06
Packaged: 2017-10-04 05:11:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dsudis/pseuds/Dira%20Sudis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Team-centric silliness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Small Error in Translation

**Author's Note:**

> SG-1 doesn't belong to me, more's the pity. I'll dial them home when I'm done with them, promise.
> 
> This story was first posted February 23, 2004.

Jack's head jerked up at the sharp dig of Carter's elbow into his ribs. It wasn't, by a long shot, the first time she'd done that, but it was better than whatever Teal'c had done to his elbow the first time he started to nod off. That had hurt so bad he'd actually made a noise--possibly, not that he'd ever admit it, a yelp--and the whole group of natives on the other side of the little dividing line, plus Whatsisface, the guy Daniel was negotiating with, had turned to look at him.

He glanced sideways at Carter, and she gave him an understanding look, politely stifled her own yawn, and then went back to staring at Daniel's back like it could tell her something, and Jack grudgingly followed suit. All well and good that negotiations had to be carried out in the local traditional language--which Daniel said was a fascinating blend of Ancient Something and Middle Something Else from far away, Jack had tuned out once he started talking about Creole and pigeons--but they weren't allowed to speak English until the talks were over for the night, and Daniel wasn't even supposed to look at them.

Though Daniel did, just at that second, half-turn his head, nodding in their direction. Jack straightened up as the negotiator squinted toward them, and then Whatsisface pointed toward Carter and said something short and sharp. It sounded like a question, like Daniel was on the verge of screwing something up. Jack ran a finger along his P-90, lying in his lap, and started plotting the best way to reach the Stargate--there were a few paths, different levels of cover, and he wasn't sure which would be guarded if any--and how he was going to explain to Hammond that yet another attempt to bargain for Trinium had ended in hurt feelings and shots fired.

Maybe he'd let Daniel do the explaining.

It sounded like Daniel planned on doing all his explaining here, though; he was speaking quickly, gesturing, some two-handed gathering-in motion. He repeated a couple of times, emphatically, and he found himself shifting forward slightly, closer to the boundary in the dirt that separated them from Daniel. He'd known better than to say anything to Daniel about how to negotiate, when he'd explained that he'd be the only one who could participate. Jack had only given one order, to his whole team: _Stick close_. He fully intended to lead by example.

The negotiator was looking back and forth from them to Daniel, then tentatively repeated the last thing Daniel had said, with the same gathering gesture. Daniel was nodding vigorously, and Jack thought _You'd better not be fucking this up, Daniel,_ as loudly as he could, but nodded too, and saw Carter and Teal'c doing the same on either side of him.

The negotiator grinned suddenly, and smacked his hands together, laughing, saying something friendly-sounding. Jack smiled cautiously, but Whatsisface was talking rapidly to Daniel, who had his head tilted to one side like he was trying very hard to take this in and probably not catching everything.

Then Daniel and his new pal were getting to their feet, and so was everyone else, all the natives dashing off in various directions, calling out to each other. Daniel turned around and came toward them, looking worried in a way that Jack really, really didn't like.

They automatically formed a huddle, shoulder to shoulder, and Carter spoke first. "So, what now?"

Daniel glanced around. "Now we party, apparently."

Okay, partying was good, and he knew for a damn fact that Daniel liked the odd welcome party from the natives as much as the rest of them--which was to say, all fun and games until you woke up naked the next morning--but he was still frowning. "Daniel," he said, in a warning voice, and Daniel glanced at him and then looked around again.

"Yeah," he said, very softly, not that anyone was going to overhear them in the chaos of getting the party going. "Um. There may be a small problem."

"_Daniel_," he repeated, and instead of giving him the standard impatient I'm-getting-to-the-point-give-me-a-minute look, Daniel kept his eyes turned down and made himself smaller. Jack was no anthropologist, but he knew _don't hit me_ when Daniel telegraphed it, and he didn't like what that implied at all.

"Okay," Daniel said, "uh, there may be a chance--a very, very remote chance--that I may have told Barig just now that we're married."

SG-1 became a little island of silence, three-quarters appalled, one-quarter really-guys-please-don't-kill-the-translator, and Jack remembered the finger pointed toward Carter, and Daniel's headshake. Carter, trooper, best 2IC a guy could ask for, said, "You and me?"

"Uh, no," Daniel said, to the ground. "Um. All four of us."

"_ALL--_"

Carter's "Sir!" and Daniel's "Jack!" collided and cut off his shout.

Daniel kept going, speaking quickly, dropping the submissive posture as he waved his hands in short, sharp gestures. "They were going to split us up. Send me to one party and you three to another. I didn't want to strand all of you without someone who speaks the language--"

"Because that would get us into _more_ trouble," Jack muttered, but Daniel's glare suggested that he was _this close_ to pointing out that he had acted in support of a standing order, which could potentially make this Jack's fault in, say, Carter's estimation, so Jack shut his mouth.

"So I told them we're--the root word means 'bonded,' and from what I can tell it may indicate a lot of different relationships. There's no evidence that they practice plural marriage, so I'm sure they'll have realized I just meant we're a team and don't want to be separated."

"Yeah," Jack hissed back, "You're _sure_\--"

Just then, a group of local girls--women, he supposed, since one was pregnant and another had a baby on her hip--ran up and tapped Carter on the shoulders. When she turned around, they started pressing flowers into her hands, and one looped a scarf around her neck. They were all chattering away, the loudest of them gesturing rather... expressively. Jack looked over at Daniel, who he thought had gone a little pale, though it was hard to be certain in the firelight. Carter smiled gamely, and the girls, with a last flurry of giggles, took off.

"Okay," Daniel said, in a faint voice. "So, um, maybe they did think I meant married, then."

"Daniel?" Carter, this time, sounded dangerous, and Jack backed out of the line of fire, and Teal'c did the same at his side.

"They, uh," Daniel was staring down at the toes of his boots, telegraphing _don't hit me_ for all he was worth and probably plotting the quickest route back to the Stargate himself, right about now. Too bad Carter could still beat him in a sprint. "They're impressed that you can keep up with. Three. Um."

Jack considered pointing out to Carter that knocking Daniel to the ground and straddling him wasn't really the best way to convince anyone watching that she wasn't wearing all three of them out every night, even if her hands did happen to be fisted in his shirt in a fairly menacing way. Then he figured, why spoil her fun? It was party time.


End file.
